Breaching Humpback Whale Nearly Crushes Kayakers [VIDEO]

“Where’s the kayak?!”

Two kayakers off Moss Landing, California were on a whale-watching expedition when they got closer to a humpback whale than they had planned. Several tons of whale threatened to send them to Davy Jones’ Locker as the beast came crashing down above them.

“Today a couple of kayakers were very lucky. They came very close to getting crushed to death by the mighty humpback whale.”

That was the assessment of Captain Michael Sack of Sanctuary Cruises, a whale watching cruise operation present during the incident.

“A full-size humpback can weigh in at 40 tons,” continued the Captain in his online blog. “That’s a lot of heavy blubber that would surely flatten a kayaker if the whale had a direct hit. I’m not sure if at this point these two know how lucky they were. They kind of had to be in shock.”

The whale was so close to the kayak that its flipper tip touched the small boat, flipping it over. The massive wave created by the behemoth’s body crashing back into the sea then flooded the vessel.

“This was one of the more dangerous situations that I’ve seen out here,” said Sack. “Here we were, minding our own business, checking out large quantities of humpback whales as they surrounded us in the Sanctuary. When all of a sudden, this massive full-size whale does a full 180-degree breach.”

Fortunately, the two individuals bobbed to the surface after submerging, thanks to their life vests, and were assisted by whale watchers from Sanctuary Cruises.

Certainly the sight of one of the earth’s largest creatures engaged in such a dramatic display is a spectacular event. As often seems to be the case when humans who are perhaps less than familiar with nature get in close proximity to wildlife, caution and prudence take a back seat to the thrill of the moment.

We even hear the camera operator remarking how fortunate he was to have gotten the incident on film, while someone in the background has the presence of mind to express concern for the two kayakers who were nearly injured, or worse.